The community services department general fund request for fiscal year 2018 totals $7,154,000, which represents a $185,194 increase, or 2.7 percent, from last year.

Steele said that street paving accounts for $234,000 of the proposed increase, which means that there have been reductions in other parts of the budget, including in fuel costs.

Snow removal also increased $20,000 for additional salt and sand.

The library budget request is up 7.1 percent from the fiscal year 2017 adopted budget, to a total of $1,393,557. Main budget drivers include upgrading two library assistants from part time to full time, and adding one part-time evening custodian.

Beaudoin said the staffing additions would allow for more community outreach, publicity and new services and classes, which are essential for the library to continue to grow. She said attendance at the library for the past year is up to 16,600, about 2,000 more than last year.

City Manager Michael Joyal presented the full fiscal year 2018 budget for the city to councilors on March 22. The budget totals $139,501,461, representing an increase of 2.6 percent over fiscal year 2017.

That total is $2.9 million over the city’s tax cap, all of which is due to overages in the school department budget, Joyal said. However, debt services for the new high school account for $2.1 million of the overage. The school department operating budget accounts for the rest of the total. The city side of the budget meets tax cap expectations.

Since the proposed budget is over the cap, it would require a two-thirds majority of the Council to pass as-is, instead of a simple majority.

The total budget Joyal proposed would cost Dover property owners $27.59 for every $1,000 of assessed value in property taxes. That is an increase of $1.30 over the current fiscal year. The owner of the average Dover home valued at $243,679 would see an increase of $317 in property taxes for proposed fiscal year 2018 budget. Of that, $32 would come from the city portion of the budget, about $73 would come from the school operating budget and $12 from the county budget. Close to $200 of the increase would be attributed to high school debt service.

All told, the owner of an average Dover home would pay $6,723, a 4.9-percent increase from the previous year.

Budget discussions continue next Wednesday, with a public hearing for the city side budget and presentations from remaining city departments scheduled. The Council is expected to vote on the budget on May 3, with May 10 listed as a backup date.